Most early startups do not need an advisory board. They need one or two startup advisors, each picked for one gap you can name in a sentence, such as selling into hospitals or hiring your first engineer. Find people a few steps ahead of you on that exact problem, work together informally for 60 to 90 days, and only then talk about advisor equity. When you do, use a written advisor agreement with vesting and a cliff. The Founder Institute's FAST agreement is a widely used reference: as of November 2026 it suggests 0.10% to 1.00% depending on your stage and how involved the advisor is, vesting over two years with a three-month cliff.
The startup in the worked example below is made up. Nothing here is legal or tax advice; your lawyer and your cap table tool handle the paperwork.
What does a startup advisor actually do?
A good advisor gives you judgment and access on a problem they have already solved. They answer the question you would spend three weeks guessing at, warn you off the obvious mistake, and introduce you to the two people who matter. They do not run anything. The word gets used loosely, so separate it from the roles people blur together:
Role | What they give you | Usual exchange | Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
Advisor | Judgment and introductions on one specific gap | Small equity grant with vesting, or cash | A few hours a month, agreed in writing |
Mentor | General founder guidance and perspective | Usually nothing; goodwill | Informal, whenever it suits both |
Investor | Money, plus whatever help they choose to offer | Shares or a SAFE in exchange for cash | Depends entirely on the investor |
Consultant | A defined piece of work with a deliverable | Cash, by the hour or by the project | Scoped to the project |
Design partner | Real usage and feedback as a future customer | Early access, influence, a discount | Regular feedback sessions |
If what you actually need is a future customer shaping the product, that is a different relationship, covered in our guide to running a design partner program. If you need someone to build or deliver something, hire a consultant and pay them.
Do you need a startup advisor yet?
Probably yes if:
You keep hitting the same wall and nobody on the team has been past it before, such as a procurement process, a regulator or a sales motion you have never run.
One wrong call would cost you months, like how to handle health data or price a contract for a large buyer.
Your buyers live in a closed world where introductions matter more than ads, and you know nobody in it.
Probably not yet if:
You cannot describe the gap in one sentence. "General advice" is not a gap.
You mainly want a recognisable name for your pitch deck.
Your real problem is that you have not talked to enough customers. No advisor fixes that for you.
Free help is still working. If people answer your questions when you ask, keep asking before you formalise anything.
How do you define the gap an advisor should fill?
Write one sentence: "We need help with X, because Y, and in six months we want Z." For example: "We need help selling into independent pharmacies through their buying groups, because we have no contacts and do not know how those deals work, and in six months we want two buying groups trialling us."
Then write down what a good advisor for that gap looks like:
They have done this exact thing, recently, at a company your size or a little bigger.
They can name the three mistakes first-timers make here without thinking about it.
They know at least a few of the people you need to meet.
They answer a specific question with a specific answer, not a framework.
The sentence filters out impressive people who cannot help with your actual problem, and gives a good candidate a clear reason to say yes.
Where do you find a good first advisor?
The best first advisors are rarely famous. They are operators two or three steps ahead of you on the specific problem. Look at:
People who have already helped you. Search your inbox and DMs for whoever answered a cold question thoughtfully. They have already passed the hardest test.
Former senior staff from your customers' world. Someone who spent years buying what you sell knows how the decision really gets made.
Founders who sold to the same buyer, even with a different product. They have the contacts and the scars.
Your network, one step out. Ask one specific question: "Who do you know who has sold software to pharmacy buying groups?" Specific questions get specific names.
The Founder Institute suggests a list of 10 to 15 target advisors, reached through people you know in common. A cold message can work, but an introduction usually works better, and our guide to asking early customers for warm introductions covers how to ask for one without making it awkward.
How do you ask someone to be your advisor?
Not on the first message. Ask for one conversation about one specific problem, and let the relationship show whether it is worth formalising. The Founder Institute's own suggested sequence is the same: a short introduction, a call or coffee, then a small request to test the working relationship, and only later a more formal role.
Here is the difference, using a made-up pharmacy software startup:
Part of the message | Weak | Better |
|---|---|---|
Opening | "I'm a huge fan of your work and would love to pick your brain." | "Priya suggested I write to you because you ran sales into pharmacy buying groups at your last company." |
Context | A paragraph about your vision and the size of the market | "We make reorder software for independent pharmacies. 14 pay us; all came through direct outreach." |
The ask | "Would you consider joining our advisory board?" | "Could I ask you three questions about how buying groups pick vendors, in a 20-minute call?" |
Effort for them | Open-ended, no time stated | One call, questions sent in advance |
Exit for them | None, so ignoring it feels easier | "If you are too busy, no reply needed." |
After the call, send a short thank-you with what you plan to do. A few weeks later, tell them what happened. That follow-through turns one call into a relationship, and most founders never send it.
How do you run a 60 to 90 day trial before any paperwork?
If the first call goes well, propose an informal trial with no equity talk yet. The Founder Institute recommends working with a potential advisor for at least a month and spending at least 8 hours together before discussing its agreement. Sixty to ninety days gives you a fair read. A simple cadence:
One call a month, 45 to 60 minutes, with an agenda you send two days ahead.
Async questions in between, by email or chat, a few a month, each specific enough to answer in five minutes.
One small, concrete request, such as reviewing your pricing for buying groups or making one introduction.
A short written note after each call from you: what you discussed, what you decided, what you will try.
At the end, ask three questions. Did their advice change a decision? Did they do what they said? Do you look forward to the calls? Three yeses means formalise it. Anything less, thank them and keep the door open.
What should you give an advisor: equity, cash or both?
Usually a small amount of equity, tied to stage and involvement and vesting over time, or cash for scoped work. A widely used equity reference is the Founder Institute's FAST agreement.
What the FAST agreement suggests
FAST stands for Founder / Advisor Standard Template. The Founder Institute released it publicly in 2011 and published Version 3 in July 2026. It sets advisor equity by two things: your company's stage (pre-seed, seed or Series A) and how involved the advisor is. As listed on the Founder Institute's FAST agreement page on 2 November 2026:
Advisor involvement | Pre-seed | Seed | Series A |
|---|---|---|---|
Standard: monthly meetings | 0.50% | 0.25% | 0.10% |
Expert: adds contacts and projects | 1.00% | 0.75% | 0.50% |
The page adds that a 5% pool for a group of advisors is not uncommon, and that FAST is meant for strategic advisors, not consulting or work-for-hire. Its overview text still mentions a middle "strategic" level, but the current table lists only these two rows, so check the agreement you download.
Vesting and the cliff
Under FAST, the equity is restricted stock or options that vest over two years, with a three-month cliff. In plain words: if the relationship ends in the first three months, the advisor gets nothing, and after that the grant keeps vesting through the rest of the two years. That cliff is your protection if things go quiet after the paperwork is signed.
Cash as an alternative
Some people would rather have cash, and for a tightly scoped need an hourly or monthly fee is often cleaner. A defined piece of work, such as a pricing review, is consulting, and paying for it keeps your cap table clean. For ongoing judgment and doors opened over a year or two, equity ties them to the long game.
Paperwork, briefly
Never promise equity in a chat message and leave it there. Put it in a written advisor agreement with vesting. Granting stock or options normally needs board approval and proper documents, so have your lawyer or cap table tool handle it. FAST is a free template you can modify; check any changed version against the original. If you have not set up your company or your own founder shares yet, start with our guide to when to incorporate your startup, and as what.
What goes in a one-page advisor expectations doc?
Separate from the legal agreement, write one plain-language page you both agree to. It prevents most later awkwardness. Cover:
The gap. Your one-sentence description of what they are helping with.
What you will ask for. Monthly calls, async questions, a set number of introductions, reviews of specific documents.
Time per month. A realistic number, such as 3 to 5 hours.
Response time. For example, async questions answered within three working days.
Introductions. How you will ask, and that they can decline any specific one.
Confidentiality and conflicts. What stays private, and any close companies they advise or invest in.
Review point. A check-in after six months to decide whether to continue.
How it ends. Either side can end it with a short note; vesting stops and nobody needs a reason.
How do you get real value from an advisor month to month?
Advisors are only as useful as your asks. Make it easy to help:
Send a short monthly update before the call: three numbers, what went well, what went badly, and two things you want help on.
Make specific asks. "Can you introduce me to the head of purchasing at this buying group?" beats "Let me know if you think of anyone."
Close the loop. When you act on their advice, tell them what happened.
Keep a simple log of what they did and what came of it, for the six-month review.
How do you end an advisor relationship that isn't working?
Sometimes it fades: calls slip, replies take weeks. Sometimes your company moves on and their gap is no longer your problem. Either way, end it on purpose rather than letting it drift.
Send a warm note or have a short call: thank them for specific things they helped with, say your needs have changed, and confirm the date the role ends. With vesting in place, they stop earning further equity once the role ends; check how your agreement words what happens to anything already earned, and let your lawyer or cap table tool record it. Then stay in touch. A former advisor who left on good terms is still a great person to know.
What are the red flags with startup advisors?
Big equity up front. Asking for several percent before helping, or for equity without vesting, prices the name, not the help.
Pay-to-play "advisory" programs. Be wary of services that charge founders a fee to be matched with advisors or to join an advisory network. Real advisors are not sold by the seat.
The advisor who wants to be a co-founder. A large stake and a title is a co-founder conversation, a much bigger decision. Have it explicitly or not at all.
Name-only advisors on your deck. An investor may call them, and it goes badly when they cannot remember your company.
Vague scope. "Helping with strategy" with no stated gap, time or asks usually means nothing happens.
Is an advisory board worth it for an early startup?
Usually not as a formal body. A board that meets as a group takes real work to run, and at pre-seed you rarely have enough distinct gaps to fill more than one or two seats well. Individual advisors, each with a clear job, give you more for less admin. A group makes sense later, when several advisors would benefit from hearing each other, or when your market expects one, such as a clinical advisory group for a health product.
A worked example: a made-up startup brings on its first advisor
Thimblecart is invented for this example, as are its people and numbers. It is a two-founder, pre-seed company making stock reordering software for independent pharmacies, with 14 paying pharmacies won one by one.
The gap
Their one sentence: "We need help selling through pharmacy buying groups, because we have no contacts and do not know how they choose vendors, and in six months we want two groups trialling us." They listed four names, and a customer introduced them to Dana, who had run partnerships at a buying group for several years before moving to a software company.
The trial
The first 20-minute call ran to 50. Over the next 75 days they had three monthly calls, a dozen async questions and one small request: Dana cut their buying-group pitch from twelve slides to five. In month two her one introduction became a pilot conversation. All three trial questions came back yes.
The agreement
They offered the FAST pre-seed standard level, 0.50% vesting over two years with a three-month cliff, plus the expectations doc: one call a month, async answers within three working days, up to two introductions a quarter, a six-month review. Dana added that she could decline any introduction. Their lawyer prepared the grant for board approval. Six months in, one buying group was trialling Thimblecart.
A 30-day plan to bring on your first startup advisor
Days | Do this | Done when |
|---|---|---|
1 to 2 | Write your one-sentence gap and what good looks like. | A teammate reads it and could find the right person. |
3 to 6 | List 10 to 15 candidates from past helpers, customers' world and founders a few steps ahead. | Each name has a reason and a possible intro path. |
7 to 10 | Ask for intros or send specific short messages to the top five. | Five messages sent, each with one concrete question. |
11 to 20 | Take the calls. Send a thank-you with your next step after each. | Notes written; one or two people stand out. |
21 to 25 | Propose an informal trial to your top choice with a monthly call and async questions. | First trial call booked with an agenda. |
26 to 30 | Draft the one-page expectations doc and read the FAST agreement, so you are ready when the trial ends. | Draft ready; equity not mentioned yet. |
Startup advisor FAQ
How much equity should a startup advisor get?
A common benchmark is the Founder Institute's FAST agreement: as of November 2026, 0.50% at pre-seed for an advisor who meets monthly and 1.00% for an expert who also makes introductions and takes on projects, falling to 0.10% and 0.50% by Series A, vesting over two years with a three-month cliff. Treat it as a reference point, not a rule, and always use vesting.
Should I pay advisors in cash instead?
Pay cash when the need is short or deliverable-based, because that is really consulting. Offer equity when you want someone involved for a year or two. Some advisors prefer cash, so ask.
Do I need an advisory board before raising money?
No. Investors care much more about your progress and customers than names on a slide. One advisor who has visibly helped, and would say so if called, beats a board of strangers.
How do I fire an advisor?
Kindly and in writing. Thank them, give the end date, and let vesting stop under your agreement. If your expectations doc had a review point and an easy exit, nobody is surprised.
Once you have the right people in your corner and something worth showing, you can launch it on EarlyHunt and put it in front of early adopters.